Week 9 Passing Stats: Nick Mullens Shines In Debut

by Chase Stuart on November 7, 2018

Nick Mullens was an undrafted free agent signing by the 49ers last season who was waived as part of the team’s final cuts in September. He was resigned in January, and then was again waived in September as part of San Francisco’s final cutdown.

He was added to the practice squad, and then, after Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL, the 49ers brought Mullens up to the active roster. Then, C.J. Beathard injured his throwing wrist in a game against the Cardinals, and while he played through the injury, he was questionable to start the team’s week 9 game on short rest. In a last minute decision, San Francisco went with Mullens — who had never entered an NFL game before — as the team’s week 9 starting quarterback.

And it somehow went magically, as Mullens turned in one of the greatest debuts by a quarterback in NFL history.

Mullens averaged a league-high 14.64 ANY/A, and ranked second to Drew Brees is value added among all quarterbacks for week 9. The weekly ANY/A average in week 9 was 6.40 ANY/A, another strong passing week for the NFL, and that’s even with Nathan Peterman playing.

And yes, a word about the Bills embattled quarterback. Peterman threw a league-high 49 pass attempts this week, and yet — amazingly — finished just 22nd in passing yards! It was another miserable week for the Buffalo passer, who averaged 0.6 ANY/A. That increased his average for the year, as Peterman is still wading in negative ANY/A waters for the season.

The table below shows the week 9 passing results.

Rk	Quarterback	Tm	Opp	Result	Att	Yds	TD	Int	Sk	Yds	ANY/A	VALUE
1	Drew Brees	NOR	LAR	W 45-35	36	346	4	0	0	0	11.83	196
2	Nick Mullens	SFO	OAK	W 34-3	22	262	3	0	0	0	14.64	181
3	Patrick Mahomes	KAN	CLE	W 37-21	32	375	3	1	2	15	11.03	158
4	Jared Goff	LAR	NOR	L 35-45	40	391	3	1	0	0	10.15	150
5	Matt Ryan	ATL	WAS	W 38-14	38	350	4	1	2	13	9.3	116
6	Cam Newton	CAR	TAM	W 42-28	25	247	2	0	2	19	9.93	95
7	Philip Rivers	LAC	SEA	W 25-17	26	228	2	0	2	13	9.11	76
8	Tom Brady	NWE	GNB	W 31-17	35	294	1	0	2	21	7.92	56
9	Deshaun Watson	HOU	DEN	W 19-17	24	213	2	0	4	21	8.29	53
10	Marcus Mariota	TEN	DAL	W 28-14	29	240	2	0	4	25	7.73	44
11	Julian Edelman	NWE	GNB	W 31-17	1	37	0	0	0	0	37	31
12	Joshua Dobbs	PIT	BAL	W 23-16	1	22	0	0	0	0	22	16
13	Case Keenum	DEN	HOU	L 17-19	42	290	1	0	2	17	6.66	12
14	Aaron Rodgers	GNB	NWE	L 17-31	43	259	2	0	1	9	6.59	9
15	Lamar Jackson	BAL	PIT	L 16-23	1	12	0	0	0	0	12	6
16	Tyrod Taylor	CLE	KAN	L 21-37	1	11	0	0	0	0	11	5
17	Bryan Anger	TAM	CAR	L 28-42	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-6
17	Cole Beasley	DAL	TEN	L 14-28	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-6
19	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	BAL	W 23-16	47	270	2	0	1	10	6.25	-7
20	Dak Prescott	DAL	TEN	L 14-28	31	243	2	1	5	18	6.11	-10
21	Baker Mayfield	CLE	KAN	L 21-37	42	297	2	1	2	22	6.14	-11
22	Kirk Cousins	MIN	DET	W 24-9	22	164	1	1	1	9	5.65	-17
23	A.J. McCarron	OAK	SFO	L 3-34	3	8	0	0	1	7	0.25	-25
24	Mitchell Trubisky	CHI	BUF	W 41-9	20	135	1	1	1	9	4.81	-33
25	Derek Carr	OAK	SFO	L 3-34	22	171	0	0	7	32	4.79	-46
26	Alex Smith	WAS	ATL	L 14-38	46	306	1	1	3	19	5.35	-51
27	Joe Flacco	BAL	PIT	L 16-23	37	206	0	0	2	14	4.92	-57
28	Ryan Fitzpatrick	TAM	CAR	L 28-42	40	243	4	2	3	24	4.86	-66
29	Brock Osweiler	MIA	NYJ	W 13-6	24	139	0	0	4	35	3.71	-75
30	Russell Wilson	SEA	LAC	L 17-25	39	235	2	1	4	33	4.58	-78
31	Matthew Stafford	DET	MIN	L 9-24	36	199	0	0	10	56	3.11	-151
32	Sam Darnold	NYJ	MIA	L 6-13	39	229	0	4	4	27	0.51	-253
33	Nathan Peterman	BUF	CHI	L 9-41	49	189	0	3	4	22	0.6	-307
	Total				895	6611	44	18	73	490	6.40	0

And we can also look at the full season data. Patrick Mahomes has emerged as the clear frontrunner in the MVP race, as he leads all quarterbacks in ANY/A, passing yards, passing touchdowns, and also is tied for the most wins. Philip Rivers and Drew Brees are still viable contenders for their first MVP, while Jared Goff has to contend with Todd Gurley and Matt Ryan has a mediocre record. But Mahomes, Goff, Rivers, Brees, and Ryan have separated themselves from the rest of the pack:

Rk	Quarterback	Tm	Age	Att	Yds	TD	Int	Sk	Yds	ANY/A	Value
1	Patrick Mahomes	KAN	23	317	2901	29	7	12	58	9.45	968
2	Jared Goff	LAR	24	293	2816	20	6	17	103	9.17	826
3	Philip Rivers	LAC	37	246	2236	19	3	11	74	9.37	735
4	Drew Brees	NOR	39	279	2336	18	1	9	71	8.96	706
5	Matt Ryan	ATL	33	301	2685	19	3	22	144	8.63	685
6	Ryan Fitzpatrick	TAM	36	184	1793	17	7	11	61	9.01	488
7	Aaron Rodgers	GNB	35	327	2542	15	1	23	169	7.51	351
8	Deshaun Watson	HOU	23	285	2389	17	7	30	149	7.19	216
9	Carson Wentz	PHI	26	225	1788	13	2	21	146	7.37	212
10	Tom Brady	NWE	41	330	2494	17	7	13	88	7.09	200
11	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	36	344	2560	16	7	11	73	7.02	183
12	Russell Wilson	SEA	30	221	1791	18	5	25	169	7.14	157
13	Kirk Cousins	MIN	30	363	2685	17	5	24	141	6.87	141
14	Cam Newton	CAR	29	263	1893	15	4	12	84	7.01	140
15	Mitchell Trubisky	CHI	24	260	1949	16	7	17	107	6.67	45
16	Brock Osweiler	MIA	28	141	1034	6	3	10	74	6.26	-37
17	Matthew Stafford	DET	30	289	2111	14	6	23	136	6.36	-45
18	Andy Dalton	CIN	31	292	2102	17	8	16	129	6.34	-51
19	Alex Smith	WAS	34	274	1867	9	3	16	91	6.28	-66
20	Andrew Luck	IND	29	342	2187	23	8	10	76	6.28	-79
21	Derek Carr	OAK	27	283	2198	10	8	24	129	6.22	-88
22	Ryan Tannehill	MIA	30	129	972	8	5	11	98	5.78	-102
23	Joe Flacco	BAL	33	379	2465	12	6	16	79	5.96	-214
24	Eli Manning	NYG	37	315	2377	8	6	31	231	5.88	-215
25	Blake Bortles	JAX	26	290	2021	10	8	18	89	5.75	-232
26	Dak Prescott	DAL	25	237	1660	10	5	28	153	5.59	-242
27	Jameis Winston	TAM	24	148	1181	6	10	13	60	4.91	-256
28	C.J. Beathard	SFO	25	169	1252	8	7	18	156	5.03	-275
29	Marcus Mariota	TEN	25	179	1270	5	5	23	135	5	-304
30	Case Keenum	DEN	30	330	2400	11	10	24	174	5.64	-307
31	Baker Mayfield	CLE	23	265	1768	10	7	22	154	5.22	-368
32	Josh Rosen	ARI	21	169	1072	5	6	16	113	4.26	-414
33	Josh Allen	BUF	22	139	832	2	5	21	167	3	-561
34	Sam Darnold	NYJ	21	289	1934	11	14	21	129	4.5	-622
	Lg Avg			9542	71648	473	227	679	4403	6.51	0

Although one note about Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is not going to be in any MVP conversation. I think because he’s Ryan Fitzpatrick, his great season has gone a bit under the radar. Yes, he’s not the best quarterback in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been playing like it. What’s particularly remarkable about Fitzpatrick is that he also leads the NFL in average air yards on completions, at 9.51. For Mahomes, only 48% of his passing yards have come through the air, with the rest on yards gained after the catch. For Brees and Rivers, just 51% of their passing yards came through the air, and that number is 53% for Goff and 55% for Ryan.

For Fitzpatrick, 65% of his passing yards this season have come through the air. Given his insane efficiency numbers, you can certainly make the case that he’s played as well as any quarterback this season.

Tagged as: Weekly ANY/A

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